Tag Archives: elementary science

Article published in International Journal of Science Education

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A new paper was published in the September issue of the International Journal of Science Education.

Forbes, C.T., Lange, K., Möller, K., Biggers, M., Laux, M., & Zangori, L. (2014). Explanation-construction in 4th-grade classrooms in Germany and the United States: A cross-national comparative video study. International Journal of Science Education, 36(14), 2367-2390.

This research involved a comparative study of 4th-grade classrooms in the U.S. and Germany involving samples of videorecorded science instruction around a variety of topics.  We used the P-SOP instrument to characterize scientific practices and processes of inquiry in which students were observed taking part.  While there were many similarities between the nature of science teaching and learning in classrooms in the two countries, we also found key differences in how students were afforded opportunities to formulate scientific explanations, a crucial scientific practice highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards.  This study was a wonderful opportunity to extend the impact of PIESC3 project through an very fulfilling and enjoyable collaboration with colleagues from the University of Münster in Germany.  I thank Kim Lange, Kornelia Möller, and Mira Laux for their contributions and collegiality.  I look forward to continuing to work together on issues related to elementary science.

 

Article published in Science Education

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A new paper was published in the July issue of Science Education.

Zangori, L. & Forbes, C.T. (2014). Scientific practices in elementary classrooms: 3rd-grade students’ scientific explanations for seed structure and function. Science Education, 98(4), 614-639.

This research focuses on 3rd-grade students’ scientific explanations for plant-related phenomena as part of the FOSS Structures of Life curriculum module across multiple classrooms.  Drawing from a diverse array of data, the study explores connections between teachers’ conceptions, their observed instructional practices, and student.  The study provides evidence that teachers’ professional ideas and pedagogical reasoning about evidence-based explanation in science – a crucial scientific practice highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards – play an important role in their instructional practices to support students’ explanation-construction in the classroom.

2014 MoHSES summer workshop

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IMG_6179This month the MoHSES team had the wonderful opportunity to work with a fantastic group of 7 3rd-grade teachers who have been involved in the MoHSES project over the past two years.  The collaborative workshops were held at the Grant Wood Area Education Agency in Coralville, Iowa where we spent a few days talking and thinking about supporting elementary students’ use of models to make sense of the water cycle.  We are incredibly lucky to be working with such a knowledgeable and engaged group of teachers as partners and co-designers in this exciting project.

Dave Pierson successfully defends masters thesis

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IMG_1075Congratulations to Dave Pierson for successfully defending his masters thesis entitled Elementary teachers’ assessment actions and elementary science education: Formative assessment enactment in elementary science.  Dave used RAES-Iowa project data to conduct a comparative case study investigating elementary teachers’ reasoning about students’ ideas and classroom formative assessment practices.  His committee members were myself, Soonhye Park, Associate Professor of Science Education in the University of Iowa College of Education, and Gabrielle Ludwig, Professor in the UI Department of Occupational and Environmental Health.  Dave, great work on this substantial accomplishment!

PIESC3 2013 publications

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Core empirical results from the PIESC3 project were published this year in three journal articles:

Biggers, M., Forbes, C.T. , & Zangori, L. (2013). Elementary teachers’ curriculum design and pedagogical reasoning for supporting students’ comparison and evaluation of evidence-based explanations. The Elementary School Journal, 114(1), 48-72.

Forbes, C.T., Biggers, M., & Zangori, L. (2013). Investigating essential characteristics of scientific practices in elementary science learning environments: The Practices of Science Observation Protocol (P-SOP). School Science and Mathematics, 113(4), 180-190.

Zangori, L., Forbes, C.T., & Biggers, M. (2013). Fostering student sense-making in elementary science learning environments: Elementary teachers’ use of science curriculum materials to promote explanation-construction. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50(8), 887-1017.

Each of these studies involves the use of our newly-developed observation protocol, the P-SOP, to investigate inquiry practices in elementary classrooms.  The paper in School Science and Mathematics details the development and testing of the P-SOP, as well as a comparison of features of inquiry evident in observed elementary science instruction.   The other two articles are mixed-methods studies using the P-SOP explore opportunities afforded students to  formulate and evaluate evidence-based explanations.

Article published in Science Education

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A new paper was published in the March issue of Science Education.

Zangori, L. & Forbes, C.T. (2013). Preservice elementary teachers and explanation construction: Knowledge-for-practice and knowledge-in-practice. Science Education, 97(2), 310-330.

This research are part of a larger study of preservice elementary teachers’ learning to use science curriculum materials to teach science as inquiry (Biggers & Forbes, 2012; Forbes, 2013; 2011; Forbes & Davis, 2010). The findings presented in this article build upon these previous studies to illustrate how preservice elementary teachers both conceptualize and learn to support students’ explanation-construction in elementary classrooms.

Article published in Journal of Science Teacher Education

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A paper was just published in the February issue of the Journal of Science Teacher Education. The mixed-methods study highlights the importance of teacher-level factors in preservice elementary teachers‘ adaptation of elementary science curriculum materials, particularly their field placement settings.

Forbes, C.T. (2013). Curriculum-dependent and curriculum-independent factors in preservice elementary teachers’ adaptation of science curriculum materials for inquiry-based science. Journal of Science Teacher Education (24)1, 179-197.

The results presented in the article are part of a larger study of preservice elementary teachers’ learning to use science curriculum materials to teach science as inquiry. This work informs our present work on the PIESC3, RAES, and MoHSES projects.

Laura Zangori accepted to the 2013 Sandra K. Abell Institute for Doctoral Students

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Congratulations to MoHSES and PIESC3 project doctoral student Laura Zangori for being accepted to the 2013 Sandra K. Abell Institute for Doctoral Students. The institute will be held July 15 – 19, 2013 on the George Washington University campus and the offices of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, DC. Laura’s current research, which is embedded in the MoHSES project, focuses on characterizing 3rd-grade students’ model-based scientific reasoning about hydrologic phenomena. The work is part of broader project efforts to foster effective elementary science learning environments that afford students iterative opportunities to construct, use, evaluate, and revise models, one of 8 scientific practices articulated in A Framework for K-12 Science Education, of the water cycle over time. Laura is currently wrapping up MoHSES project Year 1 data collection in 6 3rd-grade classrooms. The Abell Institute will provide Laura an exciting opportunity to benefit from others’ feedback on her work.

Article published in the International Journal of Science Education

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A new paper was published in the October issue of the International Journal of Science Education.

Biggers, M. & Forbes, C.T. (2012). Balancing teacher and student roles in elementary classrooms: Preservice elementary teachers’ ideas about the inquiry continuum. International Journal of Science Education, 34(14), 2205-2229.

This research are part of a larger study of preservice elementary teachers’ learning to use science curriculum materials to teach science as inquiry (Forbes, 2011; Forbes & Davis, 2010).  The findings presented in this article build upon these previous studies to illustrate how preservice elementary teachers conceptualize the continuum from more student-directed to teacher-directed inquiry and use it to make instructional decisions for science.